As the death toll from Sunday’s devastating earthquake that struck southwestern China rose to 410 on Tuesday, rescuers intensified operations to reach remote quake-hit areas with heavy rain and landslides slowing down efforts to reach survivors.
Authorities said on Tuesday the 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit a mountainous northeastern corner of Yunnan province was the strongest to hit the region in 14 years. The quake left more than 410 people killed, 2,300 others injured, 80,000 homes collapsed and 124,000 homes damaged, officials said.
Ludian county in the northeast of Yunnan — a province in China’s southwest frontier bordering Myanmar — bore the brunt of the impact, with the epicentre located in the township of Longtoushan which, according to reports, was reduced to ruin.
As the desperate search for survivors continued, the rescue effort was on Monday and Tuesday hampered by continuing rains and landslides, which have restricted access to the main highway to Ludian.
While roads that were blocked for much of the first day of rescue efforts were partially reopened, local officials told the State-run Xinhua news agency that they may be blocked again because of rain-triggered landslides. Workers are required to remove 25 million cubic metres of debris from more than 2,200 cave-ins, Xinhua reported.
Air Force deployed
Premier Li Keqiang, who is visiting the quake-hit area, said the Army would be deployed to ensure highways were operating and to transport relief materials. So far, 7,000 soldiers and armed police, as well as eight aircraft including two Air Force cargo planes, have been deployed in Yunnan.
Quake lakes
Fears are also growing over “quake lakes” that have flooded affected villages, prompting a massive evacuation of a quarter of a million people from the region. A lake of 3,000 cubic metres, formed by a landslide near the upper reaches of a hydropower station, had placed a number of lower power stations “in danger”, officials warned, with its water level rising at 30 centimetres per hour.
State media on Tuesday said an Army surgeon from the Yunnan border defence troops had gone missing after he attempted to reach a flooded village, where a villager had reported his wife missing, by swimming through another quake lake.
